Flanked by turkey and stuffing this bean salad brightened my Christmas Day plate!

I’m not sure “beans” come top of mind when thinking of the holidays but when the word “holiday” is in the name, we had to make this salad for Christmas Day feasting.

But before we dive into this hearty dish, let’s chat a little more about beans. Whether it’s bean dip, refried beans, chili with beans, baked beans, pork and beans, or pinto beans — I think we can all agree that beans are a part of everyday living.

My Dad loved the movie Blazing Saddles and let’s look at a slice from the movie that has direct ties to beans and making music, so to speak. I can still hear my Dad laughing!

Distinct parts of my family have a fondness for, shall we call it, “bathroom humor!” I can remember shortly after my college graduation scoring this amazing Santa who has more skills than a (breaking) wind symphony!

foodie tip

❤ While we were in a scurry preparing the holiday festivities we forgot to enjoy this salad from lettuce cups. Doh! The note below says to decorate the tops of the salad with tiny star-shaped pimientos. Save yourself some frustration and use some tiny cookie cutters to do the work for you!

2. Cook the green beans and the limas according to package directions. When both types of beans are done, cool, drain, and set them aside.

3. In a large bowl add the beans, limas, onions, celery, pimiento strips and 1 cup of the prepared salad dressing. Gently toss everything together then chill 2 – 3 hours in the fridge, occasionally turning in the dressing to help things marinate.

4. You can serve the bean salad solo but the original recipe (below) calls for the bean salad to be served in lettuce cups with cutout stars of pimiento.

In March 2014 my awesome Cousin Julie gifted me the recipe for this ole time family favorite.

What a great gift! I remember Mom talking about “picadillo” but the recipe wasn’t in her cookbook. Luckily, it was in her sister Delores’ cookbook that Julie has in her care!

Totally flexible, this Cuban-inspired dish made its way to San Antonio kitchens before the days of the internet … and into my heart 4ever. A foodie’s BFF.

Foodie Tips ~

♥ The original recipe scan below makes mountains of this delicious stuff. My Cousin Julie said the portions were large because her Mom, “Delores,” would often serve this dish at parties. I divided the recipe down, down, dowwwwwn into 6ths below. And yet after Joe and I ate it all, we wanted more.

♥ Cousin Julie was very specific – unless you don’t mind soggy almonds, sprinkle the almonds on top just before serving; or set them aside in a serving bowl with a spoon.

♥ Cousin Julie also said this picadillo freezes well. Sweet! If you freeze or refrigerate it overnight, add more dry sherry when reheating. It’s the honest thing to do.

♥ You can serve picadillo many ways – on top of scrambled eggs, breakfast tacos, nacho chips or inside tacos. This stuff is so good I even ate some with a shovel-spoon or two… :)

Not that I remember or should remember, but I’ve developed a sixth sense affectionately termed “internet stalking.” Rather than use my acquired skills for ill will, I use my skills for the betterment of nostalgic foodie-ism. Which brings me to this recipe.

I really had no reason to turn over the “sweet and sour slaw” recipe (see the two-sided scan below) Mom had apparently torn from a magazine. But “curious me” did turn it over!

Reading the recipe’s back revealed an authors name “James Farrell.” And his book, “The Dunne Family.” In two clicks I found the book’s publish year of 1976, our nation’s bicentennial. Keying in a few words from the article – specifically “james farrell 1976 it was late afternoon when we picked up our boat in Newton Falls” and I was taken to this. A scan of the article which revealed it was from the May 2, 1976 issue of FAMILY WEEKLY.

I then found this black and white of the original cover that was from Florida (I think each city just printed their name on the front). Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert was on the cover with her two Moms. Melissa was a kid-time favorite of mine – bonnet and all. <– Shakes head, but true!

This recipe was a great find! It’s a kissing-cousin of cole slaw and the dressing is what makes it truly unique. Pineapple and lemon juice are the key dressing ingredients that make this crunchy salad a reacquired family favorite.

Hopefully this story reminds us all that sometimes things are greater than their initial face value. Turning over a stone here and there can be a good thing. In this case, I discovered another publication my Mom read when I was too young to take notice … plus I was able to reignite fond memories of a childhood friend … in just a few clicks.

foodie tips ~

♥ Unless you’re feeding a small village or love cabbage, I’d suggest easily “halving” this recipe! There were easily 15-25 servings based on the original recipe. I was eating slaw for days! The hips do not lie.

♥ This stored extremely well in the fridge. I think the flavors were able to buddy-up and become BFFs. At least that’s what my taste buds say.

♥ Whenever possible, use fresh ingredients vs. canned – in this case use fresh bean sprouts as I’ve never seen fresh water chestnuts.

♥ Love extra chicken, limas or bread crumbs? We do, too!♥ Buttered bread crumbs? Or you can use Italian-seasoned crumbs from a can (they are “molto bene”).♥ You might want to keep the defibrillators handy when shopping for the Swanson’s canned chicken. Ours cost $4/can from Kroger and we doubled the recipe. So next time we’ll be cooking our own chicken!

This recipe held first position in the soups section of mom’s index card file, so undoubtedly it was a favorite. This was the first of mom’s recipes that I made, since I can’t locate the calabacita recipe just yet.

I don’t remember eating any avocados as a child. And despite my mom’s great culinary skills, I remember one night when a pairing of split pea soup and liver arrived in front of me at dinner, which almost ruined my love of green-colored foods (I’ve never liked liver). Hah! Regardless, now in my 40s, I’m a huge fan of avocados, so let’s eat up some avocado soup!

♥I couldn’t find “madrilène” – canned or otherwise… even online – so I’m including extra info below for a recipe I found for making the consommé from scratch.

Overall, the avocado soup recipe would be much faster to make if canned madrilène was available. I’ll keep my eyes out for it and post an update here, if I ever find it. I wrote to Pepperidge Farm and they wrote me back saying they no longer made madrilène but I’m including a picture of it (below) that I found online.

♥For an easy way to remove the tomato peel, boil the tomatoes in water one-at-a-time for 1 minute. Remove tomato and plunge it in a cold water bath. Cut the tomato in ½ and you should be able to easily remove the peel. A presto!

madrilène : what to dos

1. In a large saucepan, add ⅔ of the tomatoes and the green peppers, leek and egg whites. Mix well.

2. Add chicken stock and season to taste with salt & pepper.

3. Place pan over medium-low heat and slowly bring to a boil, 5-10 minutes.

4. Strain the mixture through a sieve or strainer lined with cheesecloth or a linen towel.

5. Discard vegetables and refrigerate consomme until serving time.

6. Just before serving, mix the remaining ⅓ of the diced tomatoes with the chives and pimiento. You now have a garnish for the soup!

* To enjoy the consomme as “full-on” consommé ~ Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of the tomato mixture in the bottom of each soup bowl. Pour chilled consommé over the pimiento mixture and serve at once. The consommé Madrilène should be thick and syrupy, but not “set.”

** To use part of the consommé in Betty’s Avocado Soup recipe (above) ~ Add 1 ½ cups of the consommé into the blender along with a dash of diced tomatoes, chives and pimiento and blend away. You can garnish with more of the tomato mixture (shown above).